'A Demonstration of Love'

Dad said that I could take his car to Wheaton so I could do things with my friends and take advantage of living in Chicago. I was excited to have wheels. I tooled around with my friends and had a great time. When I came home for the Christmas holiday, I discovered that Dad walked to work and back – 3 miles each way – since he gave me his car to use. My mom would drive him sometimes when the weather was really bad, but he basically walked every day in all kinds of conditions. I was stunned and said a few words of appreciation. Dad just smiled and said he enjoyed the walk and that he was glad I liked having a car at college. His sacrifice showed me the depths of his love and the extent that he would go for me to have a better life. That discovery changed the way I saw my dad. It warmed my heart, to say the least, and tightened our bond. It also changed the way I saw the gift he gave me. I was more careful than before and never drove it without thinking about Dad’s sacrificial love. That sacrificial love spoke volumes and changed me.

God sending Himself to us had an even greater effect on the world. Divinity constrained to a small baby. Divinity going to the cross to exchange His life for ours. There is no greater demonstration of love than that. “for God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son…” (JOHN 3:16). There never has been nor ever will be any greater demonstration of love. That powerful love has changed billions of lives and transformed the way we see God’s world.

Merry Christmas,

Jonathan